Scientists Announce
"Fish Do Feel Pain"After years of debate there is now have proof that fish have feelings

British scientists say fish do feel pain. Animal rights activists
sound the alarm, but anglers dismiss study. If fish have feelings, what does that mean for anglers?

LONDON, April 30 — Anglers take note — British scientists say that
after years of debate, they now have proof that fish feel pain. Animal activists are on the warpath after a study released on
Wednesday showed how rainbow trout react to pain and discomfort. They condemned fishing as cruel and demanded an end to the sport — but
anglers themselves dismissed the study.

THE RESEARCH FOUND that fish have pain receptors in their heads and that subjecting them to noxious substances causes "adverse behavioral
and physiological changes."

"This fulfills the criteria for animal pain," said Dr. Lynne Sneddon, who headed the research, published Wednesday by the Royal Society,
Britain's national academy of science.

Bee venom or acetic acid was injected into the lips of trout, while control groups of fish were injected with saline
solution or merely handled. The trout injected with venom or acid began to show
diverse effects including a "rocking" motion — similar to that seen in stressed
higher vertebrates — and those injected with acetic acid began rubbing their lips in the gravel of their tank. "These do not appear
to be reflex responses," Sneddon said.

The affected fish also took three times longer to resume feeding activity, compared with those in the control groups. The team from
the Roslin Institute and the University of Edinburgh found the fish had polymodal nociceptors — receptors that respond to tissue-damaging
stimuli — on their heads. It is the first time these receptors have been found in fish. They have similar properties to
those found in amphibians, birds and mammals including humans.

Animal activists said the findings showed that fishing is cruel. "We would encourage anglers to
lay down their rods. It's ridiculous that in 2003 we are still talking about whether fish feel pain — of course
they do," Dawn Carr of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals told Sky
News.

But anglers vowed to keep on enjoying their sport. "It's supposition," said Charles Jardine, director of pro-angling group
Gone Fishing. "I don't think the millions of anglers throughout the whole of the world see themselves as cruel individuals."